Hello All, I've got a 2017 F-Type S AWD and just tracked it at Watkins Glen Long Course (3.4miles) - 3-day HPDE with the PCA (Porsche Car Club). Four 25 min (approx) sessions per day with one enduro-ish session for 40 min. I ran in the "Intermediate" group which is a solo group with designated passing zones. Most cars in my run group were 911 varieties (S, 4S, Turbo, and a lot of GT3s), Cayman (S and GT4), older Porsches of various years and styles, but mostly modified for track driving, Ford GT350s (more than I expected), and the spattering of Corvettes.

Car Setup:

• Stock (no mods) - All extra weight removed (including trunk covers and such)
• Michelin Pilot Super Sports
• Porterfield Pads on the front (street) - OEM rotors and rear pads

Observations:
The GOOD:

• Wow - car performed much better than I expected!
• In Dynamic mode, the throttle and steering response was great
• When using the paddle shifters, the car really doesn't **** until you do - I bounced it of the rev limiter a couple times. The shifts were quick and smooth. There was even a 'kickdown' to a lower gear if you put the throttle to the floor and there was sufficient RPM range to support it.
• the cassis responded to inputs extremely well and predictably
• the traction control and AWD was very subtle and rarely noticed. It allowed for sufficient throttle steering and you could really steer the car with the throttle when needed.
• the AWD did kick in at the right times and allowed for faster entry and exit speeds than I anticipated - it also kept the front end pointed where I was looking and gave me more confidence to hold a little more speed
• I was concerned about the BHP to weight ratio on this car, but there was enough juice to keep momentum up steep inclines and to pass other cars
• The Exhaust Note is absolutely fantastic

The BAD:

• This car is a pig - she is heavy and you feel it - there is a fair amount of body roll at high speeds - you need to be smooth on your steering wheel inputs (but it stabilizes very quickly once you bring it back to a neutral position)
• Brakes started to fade late into the sessions. Stopping distances started to increase
• She is thirsty!! Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about gas-mileage when at the track, but I had to end my enduro session early because I ran out of gas!!! I had more than 1/2 a tank when I started
• Front pads were completely gone by day 3. I had to put back on the OEM pads just to finish out the day. The front rotors are a mess as week. There were deep grooves and it looks like metal to metal contact was made (even though it was not). NOTE: it felt like the OEM pads actually performed much better than the Porterfield pads. They bit harder and had less brake fade. But it could also be that they were fresh pads.

General Observations:

• Tires gained about 8psi from start of session to end of session - over 40psi is very bad and tires start to get very slippery- I lowered my psi to 26 on the front and 28 on the rear tires by day 2
• There isn't enough camber on the front wheels (I know it's set up for street driving) - so if tracking again, I would look to add some negative camber
• did I mention the Exhaust is FANTASTIC - I even had guys come up to me after the sessions and comment on how good it sounded when I was passing them (it did help that they heard it when i was passing them and not the other way around ;-)
• there is rarely a Jaguar at the track and I was very surprised how many people came up to me and were interested about the car. LOTS of comments about how beautiful the car looks and how well it performed out there - considering most of these guys were in 911s of some sort, that was pretty cool. There was lots of respect for the Jag.
• it did amazing in the rain - we had rain the morning of day 2 and Jag was the fastest car on the track. I passed EVERYONE and never felt like I was reaching the limits of the car in the wet (the Pilot Super Sports are also very good in the wet).
• Watkins Geln is the best road course I have ever driven. If you ever gat a chance to track your cart there, I highly recommend it. Long, Fast, Technical, and surface is in great shape (recently repaved)

Questions - Need advise:

• I plan on tracking again and I need a better set of pads and rotors. I don't see very many options out there for rotors on this car. I would like a set of rotors that would hold up to at least 2 or 3 track weekends. I plan on swapping the pads between street and track and will get a dedicated racing pad (like yellow stuff), but I need a better rotor - any advice?
• I'm also having a hard time finding cheap rims that I can use for dedicated track tires... again, any suggestions?

Thanks!
-Mike


In the wet at Watkins Glen

 

Thanks for the post, good to hear of a great experience at the track. Regarding brakes, if you are using the porterfield R4-S its a street pad and I have heard of them getting destroyed in a single track day. The R-4 is their track pad and may work better. Others have started using EBC Yellow and reports so far are favorable. And check on the thread in this forum for Wortec rotors if you want a weight saving rotor upgrade.

 

So, how did you like the blue hedges It is absolutely beautiful at Watkins Glen You might also enjoy Summit Point Motorsports Park | 4 Road Racing Circuits and Much More, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Virginia International Raceway, Putnam Park Road Course, http://pittrace.com/. I could give you a few others, but since the Clubreg site has been hacked, I am trying to stay off of it for a few days.

So, you have started down the slippery slope You do know it is very difficult to climb back up One finds that they can never stop the mods

Am glad you are enjoying your amazing driving machine

 

Thanks for the note, but this wasn't my first time... just my first time in the Jag. I've been tracking my cars for years, and I completely agree its addictive. Mid-Ohio is my home track (only about an hour away) and I'm there at least once a year. I just did Putnam a little while ago and I had the chance to do HPDE at the Brickyard last year. VIR is on my list for next year and Road America.

Now I just need to figure out how the best street/track configuration for this F-Type

 

Great Post!! Love the Glen! was just up there a few weeks ago.

 

Great post Rez, and I agree with your findings.

The Jag is the best looking, and best sounding street car on the track!

Re: Wheels, no I have not seen any off the shelf lightweight wheels that fit. If you want track wheels I think you are going to have to have the built for you - pricey!

Re: Brakes, perhaps you could upgrade your S to the larger R brakes? My car eats pads too but the rotors have held up fairly well. Heavy cars are harder to stop, this is our reality!

I am sure you are pushing as hard as you can, but if it helps to know, I try to adjust my driving style to take advantage of the massive turn-in ability of the Jag, and slowly come off the brakes - starting earlier and end later. Are you trail braking into the apex?? It is easy for me to say, and much harder to do - particularly when you look like you are going to ram the car ahead of you and yet you don't want to turn-in too soon.

If the drivers goal is to keep the G meter at the max through the turn (tire grip at the max limit), then you must carry more speed into the corner than you would otherwise feel comfortable doing with the big Cat. And slowly lift off the brake (trail brake) deep into the corner. So, instead of say 3 seconds of max braking before turn in, its 1.5 - 2 seconds of max braking and 4 more seconds of lifting off the brake. Lots of patience and easier said then done! I'm not sure if this is making any sense so I will just say I found the jag needs "a slight pull on the reigns" all the way to the apex.

 

My car ***** at 6:45 am in that case.